


Changed Fortunes

by DesertVixen



Category: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25676464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Colonel Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Bennet meet again at Netherfield Park...
Relationships: Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79
Collections: Rare Pairs Exchange 2020





	Changed Fortunes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Silver_Queen_DoS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Queen_DoS/gifts).



Mrs. Bennet had every reason to be well-pleased with her life.

The previous year had seen two of her five daughters married, most advantageously in Jane’s case. She had married Mr. Bingley, a young man of good looks, good temperament and better fortune. As Mrs. Bingley, Jane would be well-placed to help her sisters make good marriages as well.

Then Lydia, her pet, had married a dashing young officer. Mr. Wickham was pleasant, and always so very charming. It was simply too bad that they were stationed in the North – so far away! Jane, at least, could come to Netherfield Park when the Bingleys wanted to escape their London townhouse – although Mrs. Bennet owned that she couldn’t see why anyone would want to escape the capital.

They had just arrived yesterday, and it had done Mrs. Bennet’s heart good to see her daughter, so lovely in her finery. Jane was so good – always obliging, always sweet. Unlike Elizabeth – now Miss Bennet after her sister had abandoned the title – who was quite intractable. Lizzy, who had thrown away her chance for an excellent position as a clergyman’s wife, for surely Mr. Collins would rise high in his profession. There was a man, Mrs. Bennet reflected, who always knew what to say. Instead, because Lizzy was so proud and disagreeable, Charlotte Lucas would enjoy the fruits of his labor – and Longbourn itself after Mr. Bennet was dead.

It would have been too much to bear without Jane’s presence. Hopefully, they would be entertaining some more fine young men of good fortune at Netherfield Park. Of course, it would only help if Lizzy exerted herself to be charming.

And of that, Mrs. Bennet was not sure. 

*** 

“I hope it will not be too uncomfortable for you to have Mr. Darcy visiting us,” Jane said as the two sisters walked in the garden at Netherfield Park. “He is one of Charles’ dearest friends, and his sister Georgiana is a dear girl.”

“I shall endeavor to be as polite as he is,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. 

Jane said nothing. She knew it was quite impossible to force Elizabeth to do anything, but trusted in her sister’s good sense.

“Oh, and Colonel Fitzwilliam will be visiting as well,” Jane said brightly. “I believe you met him at Rosings Park?”

“I did. I own he is not much like his cousin, in temperament or fortune.” Elizabeth sighed. She had rather liked the Colonel when she met him – he had an easy-going nature and pleasant sense of humor. Unfortunately, despite being the younger son of the Earl of Matlock, he was not rich and therefore needed to marry well. He was as trapped by his lack of fortune as she was by hers. If only one of her sisters had been a brother – if only she had been the brother! Then Longbourn would be secure.

“Yes, Colonel Fitzwilliam is a delightful guest. He has recently had some good news that I neglected to write you,” Jane said.

“I suppose he has found an heiress like Miss Mary King,” Elizabeth said, her tone slightly tart.

“No, quite the opposite,” Jane said, enjoying the chance to surprise Lizzy. “Colonel Fitzwilliam recently had a sizable inheritance from a distant cousin, and is now in possession of four thousand a year, provided that he sells his commission and moves to their estate in Cornwall.”

“That is very fortunate for him,” Elizabeth agreed, “although he may not wish to be buried in Cornwall.”

They walked in the garden a bit longer, Jane sharing all the details of the ball they planned to throw to open their stay at Netherfield, but Elizabeth was only half-listening. Instead, she was thinking about Colonel Fitzwilliam, and how pleasant it would be to see him again. 

*** 

Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled at his hostess as they strolled the length of the ballroom. Jane Bingley was a charming woman, and Fitzwilliam found it hard to believe that his cousin Darcy had found any fault with her or her family. Perhaps the mother was a bit tiresome, but she seemed no worse than their own aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Perhaps the youngest sister showed a severe want of maturity and sense for being taken in by Wickham, but Georgiana had also been taken in.

There were worse fates, Fitzwilliam decided, than a possible entanglement with the Bennet family. 

They stopped near a group of people, and Colonel Fitzwilliam came face to face with Miss Elizabeth Bennet – Miss Bennet, he corrected himself.

Jane performed brief introductions, and Fitzwilliam admired how easy she made it to ask Miss Bennet for the next dance.

“I hope you have been well since we met last,” he told her as they took their places for the dance. 

“Yes. I travelled with my aunt and uncle to the Lakes, and of course there was Jane’s wedding.”

The dance figures moved them apart, and brought them together, their conversation rising and falling easily. When it was over, Fitzwilliam endeavoured to retain her hand. “Are you engaged for the next dance?”

Elizabeth smiled at him. “Indeed, sir, I am not.”

“Perhaps we could take a turn around the room?”

She acquiesced, and they made their way across the room. Elizabeth was certain that she could feel Caroline Bingley’s eyes boring into her back. “I hear that your own fortunes have improved since we met last.”

“They have, yes.” He glanced at her. “It was quite a surprise, and I have not yet been to Cornwall, so I have no idea how much of that fortune I will be obliged to spend on it.”

“It sounds like it could be quite the adventure,” Elizabeth said. 

“It could be,” Fitzwilliam replied.

“Hopefully you are not setting off on this adventure so very soon?” Elizabeth said as he returned her to where her mother was seated with several matrons and Mary.

“I believe I shall stay here a while longer. The Bingleys are quite hospitable, and the country is good for sport.”

“I hope that we shall see you some time at Longbourn,” Elizabeth said demurely, well aware of the eyes watching her.

Colonel Fitzwiliam lifted her hand to his lips, briefly. “I feel certain that you shall.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy it. I didn't manage to work the magic in, but it is nicely divergent with a convenient inheritance.


End file.
